The firemen told KIRO TV that the man tried to engulf the spider in flames, using the spray can and lighter as a makeshift blowtorch. When he saw the fire getting out of control, he called emergency services.

The fire caused $40,000 of damage to the structure with $20,000 of its contents destroyed.

As to the fate of the spider, no-one knows.

photo galleryCreepiest spider pictures

They enthrall some and terrify others - but no-one can deny that spiders are fascinating creatures.

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They enthrall some and terrify others - but no-one can deny that spiders are fascinating creatures. Spider handler Alan Henderson is a big fan of huntsmans.

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These amazing images of a mammoth spider devouring a bird were taken in the backyard of an Atherton property, west of Cairns.

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These huge spiders were photographed by US troops in the Iraqi desert.

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An ambitious redback spider gets stuck into a snake that somehow became entangled in its web.

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An ambitious redback spider gets stuck into a snake that somehow became entangled in its web.

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An ambitious redback spider gets stuck into a snake that somehow became entangled in its web.

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A poisonous King Baboon Tarantula injects its rodent prey with venom.

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A garden wolf spider carries her dozens of her babies on her back at Sydney Wildlife World.

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George the spider made his home in a traffic surveillance camera on the M4 in Sydney.

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Graham Milledge, a scientist at the Australian Museum in Sydney, lets a female Golden Orb Spider crawl over his face.

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Reader Lisbeth Jorgensen photographed this spider having his dinner on the patio doors of her home in Talai, Queensland.

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A paramedic holds jar containing a funnel-web spider that was believed to have caused a collision at Springwood, NSW, when it panicked a woman driver after escaping from its jar while she was returning it to a pet shop.

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Spiders hang from a web in a village in Belarus.

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A golden garden spider awaits its prey amid a series of massive webs in Lake Tawakoni State Park, Texas.

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Reader John Russell snapped this spider in his backyard at Gymea, NSW.

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Morning dew drops cling to a spider web.

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A female Chilean rose-haired tarantula crawls on eight year-old Stephanie Domes's head at SeaWorld, San Diego.

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Owen Seeman, assistant curator of arachnids at the Queensland Museum, holds an adult Australian tarantula.

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Two house spiders fight each other as they hang on to a stick.

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A spider is silhouetted against the moon as it spins a web.

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Reader Myles Prebble snapped this Golden Orb spider in his garden at Buderim.

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A female red-back spider at Taronga Zoo in Sydney.

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A pair of black widow spiders with an egg sack (left) emerge from their spot on a river bank.

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Reader Troy Bell took this picture of a 5mm jumping spider.

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Just a few of the 100 black widow spiders that ingested a swimming pool in Madison, Alabama.

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They enthrall some and terrify others - but no-one can deny that spiders are fascinating creatures.

They enthrall some and terrify others - but no-one can deny that spiders are fascinating creatures. Spider handler Alan Henderson is a big fan of huntsmans.

These amazing images of a mammoth spider devouring a bird were taken in the backyard of an Atherton property, west of Cairns.

These huge spiders were photographed by US troops in the Iraqi desert.

An ambitious redback spider gets stuck into a snake that somehow became entangled in its web.

An ambitious redback spider gets stuck into a snake that somehow became entangled in its web.

An ambitious redback spider gets stuck into a snake that somehow became entangled in its web.

A poisonous King Baboon Tarantula injects its rodent prey with venom.

A garden wolf spider carries her dozens of her babies on her back at Sydney Wildlife World.

George the spider made his home in a traffic surveillance camera on the M4 in Sydney.

Graham Milledge, a scientist at the Australian Museum in Sydney, lets a female Golden Orb Spider crawl over his face.

Reader Lisbeth Jorgensen photographed this spider having his dinner on the patio doors of her home in Talai, Queensland.

A paramedic holds jar containing a funnel-web spider that was believed to have caused a collision at Springwood, NSW, when it panicked a woman driver after escaping from its jar while she was returning it to a pet shop.

Spiders hang from a web in a village in Belarus.

A golden garden spider awaits its prey amid a series of massive webs in Lake Tawakoni State Park, Texas.

Reader John Russell snapped this spider in his backyard at Gymea, NSW.

Morning dew drops cling to a spider web.

A female Chilean rose-haired tarantula crawls on eight year-old Stephanie Domes's head at SeaWorld, San Diego.

Owen Seeman, assistant curator of arachnids at the Queensland Museum, holds an adult Australian tarantula.

Two house spiders fight each other as they hang on to a stick.

A spider is silhouetted against the moon as it spins a web.

Reader Myles Prebble snapped this Golden Orb spider in his garden at Buderim.

A female red-back spider at Taronga Zoo in Sydney.

A pair of black widow spiders with an egg sack (left) emerge from their spot on a river bank.

Reader Troy Bell took this picture of a 5mm jumping spider.

Just a few of the 100 black widow spiders that ingested a swimming pool in Madison, Alabama.